Second Tory MP claims to be sufferer of ‘honeytrap’ sexting rip-off as police probe | Politics | News | EUROtoday

A second Tory MP has come ahead with claims of being focused by a sexting scandal, prompting the Metropolitan Police to launch an inquiry into “unsolicited messages” circulating inside parliament.

Dr Luke Evans, the MP for Bosworth, revealed on Friday that he had skilled “cyber flashing” and was the one who initially reported the matter to the authorities. He is now joined by fellow Conservative MP William Wragg, who admitted he too had been bombarded with unrequested express pictures and texts through WhatsApp.

Mr Wragg disclosed that he was “manipulated” into sharing the private contact particulars of fellow MPs with a person he encountered on a homosexual courting app.

The Met Police have launched an investigation and are liaising with Leicestershire Police and Parliamentary Security resulting from worries that extra MPs and their aides may be susceptible to extortion.

The police issued an announcement saying: “Officers from the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command are carrying out an investigation following reports that a number of unsolicited messages were sent to MPs over recent months.”

“We are working closely with other forces and are in contact with colleagues in Parliamentary Security, who are providing support and advice around anyone affected.”

In a candid Facebook video shared on Friday, Dr Evans revealed: “A month ago I was a victim of cyber flashing and malicious communications and blew the whistle by reporting it to the police and the parliamentary authorities as soon as this happened.”

He detailed the incidents, saying: “The first set of messages I got was on a day I was with my wife and I got a one time open photo on WhatsApp of an explicit image of a naked lady. As soon as I got these the next day I reported it to the police, the authorities and the chief whip.”

In an additional incident, he defined: “Ten days later I got another set of messages, this time however, I was sat with my team in the constituency office, so we were able to record the conversation and catch photos and videos of the messages coming through including another explicit female image.”

Addressing why he selected to talk out now, Dr Evans mentioned: “Why am I talking about this now? Well, I actually wanted it to be private because it’s an ongoing police investigation, it’s been ongoing for a month but you’ve probably seen in the national media, I’ve been hounded by journalists asking me about it, It’s not too difficult to work out there are only a few Leicestershire MPs so I put my name up to say, ‘well, I hope others come forward’.”

Expressing reduction at his determination to report the incidents, he added: “I’m just pleased I blew the whistle, reported it to the authorities and it’s now being looked into.”

Meanwhile, Mr Wragg confessed to The Times that he was “scared” realizing the person possesses some compromising details about him.

Regretting his errors, the MP for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester prolonged his apologies for his “weakness”, which has resulted in ache for others.

He confessed: “They had compromising things on me. They wouldn’t leave me alone. They would ask for people. I gave them some numbers, not all of them. I told him to stop. He’s manipulated me and now I’ve hurt other people.”

Earlier this week, it emerged that quite a lot of politicians had been reached by a person who claimed to have beforehand met them.

The seductive sexting rip-off has been labelled as “spear phishing”, a type of cyber assault aimed toward particular collectives.

Spear phishing sees con artists impersonating trusted contacts to purloin private or delicate info.

A Spokesperson from the Parliament famous: “Parliament takes security extremely seriously and works closely with government and the police in response to such incidents.

“We present Members and workers with tailor-made recommendation, making them conscious of safety dangers and the best way to handle their digital security.”

They added to the statement: “We urge any passholders in receipt of suspicious messages to contact the Metropolitan Police’s Parliamentary Liaison and Investigation Team (PLaIT) straight.”